This I think is the biggest similarity between the two stories. They both involve a human like figure that also inhabits the house. In the Judge’s House, Malcolm Malcolmson, the student, whilst revising in the evening notices the noise from the rats in the house. It doesn’t seem to bother him because not before long he is immersed in his studies again. After a period of revising, he looks up and realises the room has an almost uncomfortable silence. Malcolm notices a huge rat sitting on a chair to the right of the fireplace glairing back into his eyes. Malcolm’s initial reaction is to throw heavy textbooks to try and stir the rat however this does not work so he tries striking the rat with a hot poker. The same thing happened on the second night since his arrival. Locals from around the area seemed shocked to know that he was staying in The Judge’s House, all by himself. He was told that if he were to have any problems just to pull the rope to ring the bell and help would be at hand. We are not told much about what the student spend his daytimes doing unlike in The Yellow Wallpaper where she writes updates on how she is feeling.
She has to be careful that her husband, John, doesn’t see that she is writing a journal as he would tell her to stop it and that she should just relax. Seeing as he goes to work, the daytime seems a good time to write as he isn’t home. She spends her days observing things. Observing what she can see outside, observing other people and most of all, observing her room and the wallpaper. At one point she has a few family members come down to stay for a week but apart from that she does the same old thing every day. During daylight hours, she sees the woman from behind the wallpaper creeping softly around. During the nighttime, the woman trying to get out from behind the wallpaper seems to really bother her. She can’t do much though as she is in bed with John. The woman is trying to break free from the paper, which turns into bars. We as the readers have to try and put ourselves into her position to get the full effect and emotion of this as otherwise it could seem rather stupid. She starts looking forwards to spending time in the room just to observe the wallpaper. The likes the way the pattern moves because of the woman crawling around behind it. Her husband even starts sending her to the room after eating to lie down where her addiction is fed. She becomes almost obsessed with the room, as if it were alive unlike in The Judge’s House where the house is just a venue for Malcolm’s studies. Another difference is that in The Yellow Wallpaper, the strange goings on and sort of spirit within the house is pulling her in unlike in The Judge’s House the spirit within the house is rejecting the student and not letting him get close to it.
We know for definite during Malcolm’s third night in residence that he is not wanted. The evening was colder so we know from that fact that this night is going to be different as coldness in ghostly stories is always going to bring the worst. The usual happens with the rat’s noise and as usual, the noise dies down to a nothing and once again the huge rat is sat upon the chair by the fireplace. Typical characteristics of ghost stories start to occur including strong winds and storms and strange sounds coming from empty rooms. The rope attached to the alarm bell on the roof starts toing and froing and the wind was shaking the heavy bell. The rope snaps and falls to the floor. During that day Malcolm had learnt that this was the rope the old Judge used to hang his victims from. He sees a painting of the Judge and notices his hooked nose, the peculiar brilliance of the eyes and the terribly malignant expression on the Judge’s face. As he turns around, there before him he sees the Judge in the real flesh sitting on the chair the large rat usually occupied and the rope coiled up on the floor. The Judge lifts the black cap used to signify the death of somebody and places it on his head. He grabs the rope and tires it into a noose, which he is aiming at Malcolm’s head. Seeing as the rope was no longer attached to the bell, Malcolm has no means of contact with the outside world. After a few attempts the Judge finally gets the noose around Malcolm’s head. The last few things he notices are the lamps blazing up, the large rat’s eyes, and the Judge’s icy fingers touch his throat. After this, the judge attaches the rope to the hanging bell rope and Malcolm is killed. The bells rings and a crowd arrive to find him dead.
The similarity between this and The Yellow Wallpaper is that the human like figure really comes into play at the end. It is finally the last day for the woman having to stay in the house and her husband is staying in town overnight. This meant a night by herself in the room with the yellow wallpaper. Soon as she could see the moonlight she starts ripping off the wallpaper and tearing it off the walls to les the woman behind free. Her servant sees what she has done to the wallpaper and seems to understand but the lady suffering of the nervous breakdown seems to think that no person may touch the wallpaper apart from her. This shows her complete obsession over the wallpaper, like a child with toys. She tries moving the bed but fails to do so. This makes her angry and she thinks about jumping from her window. However she decides not to do that but just to look out of her window. She sees women creeping outside and writes something very important to the story.
“I wonder if they all came out of that wallpaper, as I did.”
She even mentions having to get back behind the wallpaper at nighttime as if she has always had to do it. Her husband returns and she refuses to come out of the room. She locks it and tells him to find the key outside. Meanwhile inside the room she says about how she creeps around the room. Just the same as she sees women before creeping around. Now it is like she has joined them. On the other side of the door her husband faints and she says about how now she has to creep over him. This ending really gets you asking questions and thinking about what actually happens unlike with The Judge’s House where we know exactly how it ends immediately without having to ask too many questions.
Personally, I think that The Yellow Wallpaper made a better story because there were more questions to be asking ourselves and more unknowns, which gets us trying to fill in those unknowns. Like being in the dark when because you don’t know what is really there, your brain starts imagining all kinds of possibilities. I also thought that’s because it was in the form of a journal, getting full emotions of just one person made it better. My final reason as to why I prefer it is that it didn’t follow the typical clichés of a scary story e.g. bad weather and getting warned to be careful.
